Causality and Psychopathology

Finding the Determinants of Disorders and their Cures

Description

Part of the new American Pyschopathological Association Series. Containing contributions from leading scholars of causal thinking in epidemiology and psychopathology research, this volume is based on presentations at the ground-breaking 2008 meeting of the American Psychopathological Association. The authors explore the meaning of causal statements that are made from statistical and experimental evidence; then, they suggest novel approaches to analyze these statements and thus make them more informative and medically rigorous. The collection of chapters uniquely includes both methodological contributions and detailed assessments of how causal inferences can be made when considering research results on developmental psychopathology, clinical psychopharmacology, personality disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, and psychiatric genetics. In analyzing causal references, the authors examine controversies surrounding various disorders and their treatment.

Causality and Psychopathology

Finding the Determinants of Disorders and their Cures

Reviews and Awards

"This unique edited volume brings together diverse influential perspectives on causal thinking that can be applied to understand the determinants of psychopathology. Rubin's potential outcomes model from statistics, Campbell's perspective from the behavioral sciences, perspectives from epidemiology, graphical causal models from computer science, and novel approaches based on genetic theory are all represented. New approaches to designs and analysis are presented; new thinking about psychiatric diagnosis is also presented. This innovative set of chapters will be of interest not only to researchers in psychopathology, but also to those researchers from a variety of disciplines who wish to both broaden and integrate their understanding of important new perspectives on causal inference." -- Stephen G. West, PhD, Professor, Psychology Department, Arizona State University; and Gastprofessor, Arbeitsbereich Methoden und Evaluation, Freie Universitaet Berlin, Germany

"Causality and Psychopathology is an incomparable and fundamental book for any social scientist that is seriously considering addressing causal issues in psychopathology research. The breadth of topics (e.g., counterfactuals, confounding, statistical bias, mediation analysis, inference, trajectory classes, observational research) covered makes it an invaluable resource for all of us navigating the perils of establishing causal relationships in diverse types of studies as well as the problems (e.g. non-adherence, selective missing, attrition) in making causal statements about mental health processes. The authors' chief contributions lie in raising awareness of the available tools and analytical methods that can advance causal inference in psychopathology. The book is a masterpiece. -- Margarita Alegría, PhD, Director, Center for Multicultural Mental Health Research, Cambridge Health Alliance & Harvard Medical School, Somerville, MA